From Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. SHO-58-124378 (hereinafter simply called “Publication”), etc., walk-behind tilling machines are known which include fenders on left and right sides of a machine body and a cultivating or tilling rotor under the fenders.
FIG. 19 is a front view of the conventional walk-behind tilling machine disclosed in the Publication. The disclosed walk-behind tilling machine 200 includes a pair of pivotable fenders 202 secured to left and right sides of a machine body, and a tilling rotor 204 disposed under the fenders 202. In the walk-behind tilling machine 200, the tilling rotor 204 can be covered with the fenders 202 by causing the fenders 202 to pivot downward from an unfolded position (depicted by imaginary lines) to a folded position (depicted by solid lines). Thus, in loading the tilling machine 200 onto a truck bed or storing the tilling machine 200 in a storage space, a human operator does not worry about his or her clothes getting soiled by inadvertently contacting the tilling rotor 204.
If soil, such as mud, is left sticking to the tilling rotor 204 after cultivation or tillage by the tilling rotor 204, the rotor 204 would be rusted. To avoid the tilling rotor 204 from getting rusty, it is necessary to manually remove the soil from the rotor 204, after the work, using a brush etc. However, because a relatively great number of tilling claws 205 of the rotor 204 have to be manually cleaned one by one, cleaning (normally including washing) of the rotor 204 tends to require a considerable amount of time and labor.